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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration just finalized rules that require rearview cameras in all passenger cars produced after mid-2018, but Tesla and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers want to take it one step further by replacing side mirrors with cameras.

Both parties filed a petition with the NHTSA seeking to ditch those clunky side mirrors in favor of side-view cameras, arguing that a high-tech system could be just as effective, if not more. Side mirrors have long been required by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 111, but Tesla and the alliance claim they create drag and that smaller cameras mounted in place of mirrors can help improve a car’s aerodynamic performance and fuel efficiency.

Although the NHTSA has been petitioned on the matter just recently, this idea isn’t entirely new. “Cameras will open opportunities for additional design flexibility and innovation. This idea has been in development since the 1990s, when the U.S. Department of Energy partnered with automakers to produce an energy-efficient concept car with cameras instead of side-view mirrors,” said the alliance in a statement on its website.

Replacing conventional side mirrors with cameras only seems like the next appropriate step considering all other driver-assist technologies currently available. Honda has Lane-Watch, while Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Nissan offer a birds-eye view on their rearview cameras.

Do you think side mirrors should be replaced with cameras? Let us know in the comments below!